Supporting the 10th grade exam in Nghe An: The lingering feelings

A solid support for ethnic minority children

With more than 1,600 students studying at Que Phong High School - the second home of most ethnic minority students in Que Phong district. Life is still full of hardships, housing is dozens of kilometers away from school so students are forced to stay in rented accommodation to complete their studies.

As for the secondary school students, there are 14 schools in the area, located in disadvantaged communes, so they have to stay in boarding schools. Because they live far away from their families and parents, when entering important exams, they need a lot of help and guidance to be able to confidently complete the exams well. At this time, teachers are the second fathers and mothers of the students.

Mr. Ngo Chien Thang - teacher of Que Phong High School (left) supports the accommodation and cooks meals for the students taking the exam. Photo: Thanh Quynh

As a Literature teacher with more than 25 years of experience at Que Phong High School, Mr. Ngo Chien Thang (born in 1976) is remembered by many generations of students in this border area. The image of him and his wife busily cooking to give free meals to disadvantaged students who have to live far from home, or the fact that he provides free accommodation for students to rest during the exam period has become familiar to many parents of students here.

According to Ms. Tu Thi Van - Principal of Que Phong High School, Mr. Ngo Chien Thang is one of the teachers with a long history of teaching achievements, and also has many activities to support students. Taking advantage of his family's boarding house, which is often empty every summer, he often supports 25 to 35 students to stay for free during important exams. In some cases, students forgot their documents or woke up late and forgot the exam time, the teacher promptly checked and used his personal vehicle to support them so that they could be on time for the exam.

Mr. Ngo Chien Thang (left) and leaders of Que Phong District People's Committee visited and encouraged volunteer teams to support the 10th grade entrance exam season. Photo: NVCC

Along with Mr. Thang, teacher Tran Hoai Thuong (born in 1989) - Secretary of Que Phong High School's Youth Union is also a bright spot in leading student and teacher youth unions to carry out many effective volunteer activities. During the recent 10th grade entrance exam, Ms. Tran Hoai Thuong established a Rapid Response Team consisting of outstanding youth union members and young teachers in the school to promptly support students.

That support was implemented since the Provincial People's Committee issued the 10th grade Admissions Plan. She and her colleagues in the School Youth Union approached the necessary information to convey new regulations and new experiences so that students could have a confident and comfortable mentality before the exam. At the same time, during the exam, she and the School Youth Union's rapid response volunteer team provided support in emergency cases such as forgetting exam papers, being late for the exam and related procedures.

Teacher Tran Hoai Thuong (born in 1989) - Secretary of the Youth Union of Que Phong High School (center of photo) is a bright spot in the annual volunteer campaign to support exam season in Que Phong district. Photo: NVCC

As an excellent teacher at the provincial level, and having many contributions to the school's Youth Union movement, she was honored to receive the Certificate of Merit from the Central Youth Union for the 2017-2018; 2018-2019 school years for her outstanding achievements in Youth Union work; Certificate of Merit from the Central Youth Union for the 2021 Red Flamboyant Campaign and many Certificates of Merit from the Provincial Youth Union, certificates of merit from the Department of Education & Training and Que Phong district.

“Teachers will be truly happy if their students are happy. Especially when most of their students are in difficult circumstances and lack family affection, the desire to compensate for them is even greater. Therefore, when taking on the role of Secretary of the School Youth Union, I always try to support them as much as possible, while creating an environment for them to demonstrate their abilities and be confident in themselves.”

Teacher Tran Hoai Thuong - Teacher at Que Phong High School

Teacher 4.0

Owning a Fanpage with more than 4,000 members and a Tiktok channel with tens of thousands of views, Mr. Nguyen Van Ngoc (born in 1984), a Literature teacher at Tay Hieu High School (Thai Hoa town) has used social networks thoroughly to improve the effectiveness of propaganda to students. Especially, forEntrance exam for grade 10In the past, these were effective communication channels for teachers to promptly grasp students' thoughts and aspirations and convey valuable experiences during the exam preparation process.

Mr. Nguyen Van Ngoc - Secretary of the Youth Union of Tay Hieu High School (Thai Hoa town) supports students in the 10th grade entrance exam for the 2022 - 2023 school year. Photo: NVCC

Being both a teacher and the Secretary of the School Youth Union in charge of 28 youth unions (including 27 student youth unions and 1 teacher youth union), he considers this a favorable factor for him to be closer to the students. At the same time, he can promote youthful strength and energy to approach the ways of transmitting information in the 4.0 era.

He said: “In the past, schools were the only place to provide knowledge, teachers were the only ones to impart knowledge to students. Therefore, the role of teachers was to transfer knowledge. However, nowadays, knowledge is everywhere and students can access information through many different channels. The way of accessing is therefore more diverse and richer. Especially, when the 4.0 scientific and technological revolution exploded, the role of teachers has changed a lot."

"If the teacher's job is simply to provide knowledge, the teacher is just like a talking textbook. Therefore, to become an effective "bridge" between students and the knowledge they need to master, the teacher's task is to innovate teaching methods and ways of thinking to reach students. Therefore, when establishing propaganda channels, I hope to create a solid stepping stone for students to access the necessary knowledge and skills before entering important exams."

Mr. Nguyen Van Ngoc - Secretary of the Youth Union of Tay Hieu High School (Thai Hoa town)

Teacher Nguyen Van Ngoc, teachers and excellent members of Tay Hieu High School (Thai Hoa town) presented gifts to support poor students who strive to study well. Photo: Thanh Quynh

Realizing that the goal of studying is not to study for exams, to study to understand but to study to live, to study to know, the teacher himself always directs students to volunteer activities. For example, to support the recent transfer exam, he established a volunteer team of 60 students who are excellent union members and young teachers in the school to draw banners, slogans, clean the exam rooms and the school campus. At the same time, he coordinated with the Traffic Police force to guide traffic flow, reduce congestion at exam sites and surrounding areas. Some candidates who arrived late were promptly supported by volunteers, so they soon stabilized their mentality to enter the exam. That practical contribution and timely support contributed significantly to the exam taking place safely, seriously and motivated candidates to take the exam in the best conditions.

Standing representative of the Provincial Youth Union visited and encouraged the teams supporting the 10th grade entrance exam season for the 2022-2023 school year. Photo: Thanh Quynh

Looking across the province, comrade Nguyen Ngoc Chau - Head of the School Youth Committee, Nghe An Provincial Youth Union said: Entering the 10th grade entrance exam for the 2022 - 2023 school year, Nghe An youth has established 121 volunteer teams to support the exam season. Each team has the participation of teachers from schools. This enthusiastic participation has made an important contribution to carrying out activities to support candidates and parents during the exam. At the same time, it has enhanced the image of teachers in the hearts of generations of students so that they have more confidence before entering a new page of adulthood./.